Texas Hold ’Em

07.25.13

DOJ to Challenge States Voting Laws

Mark Wilson

Not so fast, Texas. Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Thursday that the Justice Department would challenge Southern states, starting with Texas, that immediately moved to enact or enforce new restrictive voting laws after the Supreme Court overturned a key part of the Voting Rights Act last month. In a speech to the National Urban League in Philadelphia, Holder said that he planned to subject Texas, the first state to jump at the chance to impose new voter-ID and redistricting laws, to “preclearance” requirements. “Even as Congress considers updates to the Voting Rights Act in light of the court’s ruling, we plan, in the meantime, to fully utilize the law’s remaining sections to subject states to preclearance as necessary,” Holder said. “My colleagues and I are determined to use every tool at our disposal to stand against such discrimination wherever it is found.”